Notre Dame football naysayers looking very foolish now -- Brian Kelly proves academic excellence and football can mix

Brian Kelly

All those naysayers who thought Notre Dame would never compete for a national championship again can sit down now.

A win over USC puts Notre Dame in the national championship game, likely against Alabama, an unheard of possibility at the start of the year.

The AP and BCS rankings this week make sweet reading for the Fighting Irish boosters who never gave up.
Yes, there have been the wilderness years with the likes of Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham.

But to counter that there has always been the amazing tradition and echoes just waiting to be re-awakened.
And now they have.

Most detractors insisted that the academic standards at Notre Dame had ensured that top players would always skip the South Bend campus trip.

Yes, Notre Dame graduates an incredible 96 per cent of their football students, the top rank in college football.

Alabama, by contrast, graduates just 75 per cent.

But Coach Brian Kelly was undaunted by the challenge that drafting intelligent footballers represented in the eyes of many.

“I have not seen anything here in my time that will not allow us to continue to have the highest graduation rate and compete for a national championship, and I’ve been doing it 22 years. So I think I know what it looks like if you couldn’t do it,” he said.
Amen to that.

Notre Dame still need to beat USC for a BCS title shot - BCS heaven awaits if they can win in Los Angeles!

Notre Dame in BCS heaven? who would have thought it at the start of this season. For the first time since the Lou Holtz era in 1993 Notre Dame are Number 1.

But wait! there is one game to go and its against the dreaded USC so let us not count any chickens here.

Maybe it was the Sports Illustrated cover jinx but Kansas State played like they were snakebitten against Baylor.

And Stanford handed Oregon a dramatic defeat meaning that Alabama are the most likely rivals for Notre Dame for the BCS game.

Notre Dame has a clear shot at the BCS title game if the Irish can defeat USC next week.

That is a big if, especially in Los Angeles against a team that will be fired up like never before to deny the Fighting Irish.

Chip Kelly against Brian Kelly, the two New England Irishmen facing off against each other would have been a sportswriter’s dream --- green and gold against the green and gold.

A season that started with success in Dublin has ended in glory for the Irish.

Oregon lost against Stanford and Notre Dame’s luckiest escape this season
was against Stanford.

The Irish need not fear anyone the Irish defense is the best in football.

But first there is USC!

Notre Dame chances of national championship game soar - Alabama defeat leaves Irish in the argument for BSC game

Notre Dame

The chances of The Fighting Irish playing for a national championship have improved dramatically after Alabama went down to Texas A&M at home.

The Alabama shocker means that the Irish may play for the national championship for the first time since the Lou Holtz era in 1988.

Coupled with Notre Dame’s facile victory over Boston College the Irish are now definitely at Number 3 at least and possibly in the top two.

It is an extraordinary outcome for a team that was given little chance of cracking the Top 10 before the season started.

But there are still two obstacles to overcome. Wake Forest at home should be a relatively easy victory but USC in the Los Angeles Coliseum will be a real test.

The Irish/USC rivalry is among the most famous in college football and nothing would suit the Trojans more than to upend Notre Dame’s perfect season.

If the Irish manage to overcome that however, they will be in the final shakeup for a national title game—something absolutely no one predicted at the beginning of the season.

Against Boston College, Notre Dame appeared to play on automatic in the second half after a 21-3 half time lead. This team is plainly able to lift their game sufficiently depending on their rival. The BC game in previous years has often been a heartbreaker for the Irish but like everything hers this year they have learnt to do enough for victory.

Manti T’eo‘s interception will have done him no harm in the Heisman chase and he is surely moving up in the ranking.

Celtic boss hails side’s historic win over Barcelona 2-1 -- Rod Stewart in tears as ‘The Bhoys’ make history

Celtic wins over Barcelona in history European Championships match

Celtic boss Neil Lennon has praised his team after their historic win over Barcelona in the European Champions league by 2-1.

"I think it was one of the greatest nights in the club's recent history,"he said. Rod Stewart, a huge Celtic fan who attended the game, was in tears afterwards.

He continued: "It was very poignant at our 125th anniversary, one to play Barcelona in such a prestigious game and two, to win the game under huge difficulties with the squad decimated by injuries and illness.

"The players are heroes, they are heroes to me, I can't speak highly enough of their performance tonight and they will go down in the history books of the club as the team who beat probably the best team in the world.

"Everyone goes on about tactics but football is about players and they have covered themselves in glory tonight."

Celtic fans now  fancy their  chances of reaching the knockout stages of the competition but Lennon is cautious.

The former Celtic skipper said: "We have a chance, that's all it has given us. A greater chance than maybe we expected before the game.

"But we still have two very tough games. The problem is the players and staff will have to deal with is that the expectation level will increase. There is still a lot of work to do but we have given ourselves a platform. But that's for the future, I want the players to enjoy the moment and take it all in."

A week of living dangerously for Notre Dame ends in Pitt win - Miracles are truly happening at the Golden Dome in 2012

Notre Dame v Pitt

Notre Dame's victory over Pitt was the stuff of miracles and Touchdown Jesus must have been working overtime to bring about the most unlikely comeback.

This 2012 team truly has the karma.

They won the game in triple overtime but only after Pitt had missed a chip shot to win the game in double overtime.

A team of destiny? Much as I hate that title I found myself thinking it as the chip shot went wide and Notre Dame lived to fight again.

On the 3rd OT Everett Golson was soon buzzing like that busy bee he is on his best moments probing, flitting, looking, running for first downs.

It was fitting that he sneaked in from the one yard line for the winning score and that Coach Kelly gave him the game ball-- he deserve both.

Pitt will wonder how they lost this game entering the final quarter with a 20-6 lead and outplaying the Irish.

But this year miracles are happening at the Golden Dome and the Pitt win might be the biggest one of all this year.

Clearly the Irish were flat off the massive Sooners victory last week and yet somehow as they have all season they found a way to survive,

They say the mark of great team is its ability to play badly and still win-see Alabama against LSU last night.

The Irish did that against Pitt and should make short work of B.C and Wake Forest before the titanic clash with USC.

It is a prospect to look forward to.